Part 34
Hearing Annie and Kevin, Dianne dashed away her tears and busied herself with dinner.
Kevin stopped behind her putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “The steaks are almost ready, baby. I’m going to grab a plate now.”
“That’s fine, Kevin.”
“Annie, get the dog food for ‘Bo’,” instructed Kevin as he reached into the cabinet for a plate.
The dog food just happened to be on the other side of the counter from where Dianne was working so when Annie was over there getting it, she saw Dianne’s tears. She started to speak up but stopped when she saw the sharp look Dianne gave her. “Daddy, I can’t open the can.”
“We’ll get it outside, baby. Get a spoon too.”
With everything they needed, Kevin and Annie headed back outside passing by AJ and Chelsea as they kissed.
Out in the yard, kneeling
down to feed ‘Bo’, Annie asked, “Daddy, were you and Alex arguing?”
“Sort of. He wasn’t
happy about something I did.”
“You mean kissing Mama?”
“You saw?”
“Uh huh!”
“Yeah, well…it wasn’t a smart thing to do.”
After a minute of silence, Annie asked, “Do you love Mama?”
Kevin watched his daughter as she spooned the food into the bowl. He was thinking about her question. It wasn’t a difficult one and he had an answer…he’d had the answer for seven years but Chelsea had made HER answer abundantly clear.
“Daddy?”
Her tiny voice brought him back. Looking into her eyes, he said, “Sugar, I’ll always love your mom…after all, she gave me you,” and he put a finger on her nose, “But I’m married to Dianne.”
“Why aren’t you married to Mama?”
“I thought you liked your mom being with AJ?”
“I do but…”Annie stopped and looked away from her father’s intense gaze.
“Come on, Annie. I know you’re uncomfortable with Dianne but you can tell me anything,” urged Kevin as he reached out to tug lovingly at her pigtail.
Annie grinned at the gesture. “It’s just that I’ve always tried to imagine what it would be like to have BOTH my parents together….like most of my friends back in Virginia.”
Kevin took a seat now on the ground crossing his legs and motioning for Annie to sit in his lap. “Sweetheart, I know all of this is very confusing to you but I promise you, we all love you a great deal…your mom, me, Alex, and Dianne.” Seeing the little girl frown at the mention of Dianne’s name, she said, “Your mom told me about Dianne. Annie, she DOES care about you and I promise, it’ll get better.”
“Thank you.”
“I do love your mother, a great deal…but before I knew about you, I made a choice to be with Dianne and now, you mom has made the choice to be with Alex.”
“Do you love Dianne?”
“Very much.”
“Why can’t you be married to both of them?”
Kevin laughed. “It’s against the law, baby. You know…you’re an extremely lucky girl to have four people looking out for you and your mom and I aren’t fighting over you like divorced couples do.”
Annie leaned back against his chest to think about what he had said. “Daddy, I’m glad Mama finally told you about me.”
“Me too, baby! Me too!” answered Kevin wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tight. “Any more questions?”
“Just one. Why was
Dianne crying?”
“When?”
“When we were getting ‘Bo’s’ food.”
“I don’t know, baby,” answered Kevin but he had a sinking feeling that he did know. There was no mistaking it…he couldn’t put off talking to Dianne any more. She needed her answers and his reassurances. He just hoped his answers were going to be sufficient.
